Bang Soo-hyun

Bang Soo-hyun (Korean방수현; Hanja方銖賢; born 13 September 1972) is a former badminton player from South Korea who was one of the world's leading women's singles players of the 1990s. She was a contemporary and rival of Indonesia's Susi Susanti and China's Ye Zhaoying. Noted for a style that combined impressive power and movement, she retired from competition after her victory in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, shortly before her 24th birthday. She was elected to the World Badminton Hall of Fame in 2019.[1]

Bang Soo-hyun
Personal information
CountrySouth Korea
Born (1972-09-13) 13 September 1972 (age 51)
Seoul, South Korea
HandednessRight
Women's singles
Highest ranking1
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing  South Korea
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta Women's singles
Silver medal – second place 1992 Barcelona Women's singles
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1993 Birmingham Women's singles
Bronze medal – third place 1995 LausanneWomen's singles
World Cup
Silver medal – second place 1994 Ho Chi Minh Women's singles
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Guangzhou Women's singles
Sudirman Cup
Gold medal – first place 1991 Copenhagen Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 1993 Birmingham Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Lausanne Mixed team
Uber Cup
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Hong Kong Women's team
Silver medal – second place 1992 Kuala Lumpur Women's team
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 1994 Hiroshima Women's singles
Gold medal – first place 1994 Hiroshima Women's team
Asian Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Beijing Women's singles
Asian Cup
Gold medal – first place 1995 Qingdao Women's singles
Silver medal – second place 1991 Jakarta Women's singles
BWF profile

Career

edit

Summer Olympics

edit
Barcelona 1992

Bang competed in badminton at the 1992 Summer Olympics in women's singles. She had a bye in the first round, defeated Catrine Bengtsson of Sweden in the second and Hisuko Mizui of Japan in the third. In quarterfinals Bang Soo-hyun edged Sarwendah Kusumawardhani of Indonesia 11–2, 3–11, 12–11 to advance to the semifinals. There, she beat the reigning world champion Tang Jiuhong of China 11–3, 11–2. In the final, she lost to Indonesia's Susi Susanti 11–5, 5–11, 3–11 to finish with the silver medal.

Atlanta 1996

Bang also competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. She won the gold medal in women's singles without dropping a game in any match, defeating Susi Susanti in semifinals 11–9, 11–8, and Mia Audina in the final, 11–6, 11–7.

World Championships

edit

She won two medals in the IBF World Championships, in 1993 a silver medal as runner-up to Susanti, and in 1995 a bronze medal.

Other championships

edit

Bang won the quadrennial Asian Games in 1994, and the prestigious All England Open Badminton Championships over Ye Zhaoying in 1996, having been a runner-up in close matches in both 1992 and 1993. Her other titles included the Welsh (1989), Hong Kong (1992), South Korea (1993, 1994, 1996), Swedish (1993, 1994), and Canadian (1995) Opens.

Achievements

edit

Olympic Games

edit

Women's singles

YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
1992Pavelló de la Mar Bella, Barcelona, Spain Susi Susanti11–5, 5–11, 3–11 Silver
1996GSU Sports Arena, Atlanta, United States Mia Audina11–6, 11–7 Gold

World Championships

edit

Women's singles

YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
1993National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England Susi Susanti11–7, 9–11, 3–11 Silver
1995Malley Sports Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland Han Jingna6–11, 4–11 Bronze

World Cup

edit

Women's singles

YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
1992Guangdong Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China Huang Hua12–10, 9–11, 9–11 Bronze
1994Phan Đình Phùng Indoor Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Susi Susanti9–12, 6–11 Silver

Asian Games

edit

Women's singles

YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
1994Tsuru Memorial Gymnasium, Hiroshima, Japan Hisako Mizui11–4, 11–6 Gold

Asian Championships

edit

Women's singles

YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
1995Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, Beijing, China Yao Yan11–5, 7–11, 3–11 Bronze

Asian Cup

edit

Women's singles

YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
1991Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia Tang Jiuhong7–11, 11–6, 4–11 Silver
1995Xinxing Gymnasium, Qingdao, China Mia Audina1–11, 11–2, 13–12 Gold

IBF World Grand Prix

edit

The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006.

Women's singles

YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
1992Korea Open Tang Jiuhong6–11, 3–11 Runner-up
1992All England Open Tang Jiuhong12–9, 10–12, 1–11 Runner-up
1992Hong Kong Open Susi Susanti5–11, 11–6, 11–7 Winner
1992Thailand Open Susi Susanti7–11, 4–11 Runner-up
1993Japan Open Ye Zhaoying6–11, 5–11 Runner-up
1993Korea Open Susi Susanti12–9, 11–5 Winner
1993Swedish Open Lee Heung-soon11–2, 11–6 Winner
1993All England Open Susi Susanti11–4, 4–11, 1–11 Runner-up
1994Korea Open Kim Ji-hyun11–5, 11–5 Winner
1994Swedish Open Kim Ji-hyun6–11, 11–5, 11–3 Winner
1994Indonesia Open Susi Susanti11–2, 0–11, 1–11 Runner-up
1994Hong Kong Open Lim Xiaoqing11–7, 11–6 Winner
1994China Open Ye Zhaoying11–8, 11–8 Winner
1995Korea Open Susi Susanti11–3, 7–11, 9–11 Runner-up
1995Japan Open Susi Susanti7–11, 11–12 Runner-up
1995Malaysia Open Susi Susanti1–11, 6–11 Runner-up
1995Indonesia Open Susi Susanti6–11, 7–11 Runner-up
1995Singapore Open Lim Xiaoqing7–11, 11–6, 8–11 Runner-up
1995USA Open Ye Zhaoying10–12, 11–3, 8–11 Runner-up
1995Canada Open Ra Kyung-min11–0, 11–7 Winner
1995Hong Kong Open Mia Audina5–11, 11–4, 11–5 Winner
1996All England Open Ye Zhaoying11–1, 11–1 Winner
1996Korea Open Yao Yan11–3, 11–0 Winner

Women's doubles

YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
1994China Open Jang Hye-ock Ge Fei
Gu Jun
8–15, 2–15 Runner-up

IBF International

edit

Women's singles

YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
1988Welsh Open Julie Munday5–11, 11–0, 11–8 Winner

Record against selected opponents

edit

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists.

References

edit
  1. ^ Hearn, Don (8 March 2019). "Korea's singles queen to be named to Hall of Fame". Badzine.net. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
edit